Chapter 14: Mad Science?!
Kaladia City
While Sera Hawke is waiting for the Eastern Immortal’s scan results with bated breath she had the golems to manufacture several Intensive Care Unit Chambers designed to hold and keep in check powerful individuals, she also had asked some of her employees to carry the pouch the Eastern Immortal has on her to the Mages Guild for identification. For some reason this mysterious pouch cannot be opened and is incredibly sturdy.
Sera was hoping the Mages Guild could help shed some light on how to open such an artifact or even identify the materials so she can make a golem made out of nearly impervious cloth.
After an hour however rather than return with the artifact her employees return empty handed.
“you did not get robbed did you?” she said in calm voice anger fuming inside her
“n-n-no! We were not robbed Lad Sera! It’s just that the Chief of the mages guild himself wanted you to come. He wanted to asked questions about the pouch you have us brought for identification”
She sighed but reluctantly replied “fine, prepare the carriage for me this looks like an official meeting. I wonder what happened”
Within 30 minutes Sera Hawke arrived at the Mages Guild. After entering the guild the receptionist identified her almost immediately.
With a curt bow the receptionist said “Lady Sera I will guide you to the Branch Manager’s office, this way please”
Sera only nodded and followed after the receptionist in 3 flights of stairs, on the 3rd floor is the office after which the receptionist gestured towards the door and promptly left.
Banshee has always been within arms reach of Sera Hawke just in case something dangerous happens. Without further hesitation she knocked on the door 3 times before opening.
To her surprise rather than a frail old man she was met with a stocky masculine mage in loose robes decorated in gemstones which is most probably artifacts allover his body he even equipped with a ring on each finger.
“Ah! You have arrived, I am actually surprised for you to come as fast as you did”
“mm.why have I been called here And who are you?” she said nonchalantly
as if stuck with awkward silence the branch manager replied “umm. You can just call me Zumwalt”
With a little frown on Zumwalt’s face he wondered Lady Sera was playing a joke on him. After all with him being one of the few Wizard that also doubles as a Magic Knight along with his position as the branch manager of Kaladia City’s Mages Guild he thought that Lady Sera would have known his name long ago.
“and as of why I have asked you to be here Lady Sera, it is because of this pouch over here” he pointed on his table
“yes, I asked for that pouch to be identified and yet not only I was asked to come here the pouch is still unidentified… is it? Sera said with a hit of annoyance thinking that she could be doing something better right now rather than chatting with strangers.
“well you see here this pouch is actually already identified. This are spatial pouches that the Eastern Immortals use to put their personal belongings, and because of the current war I am obligated to ask you a question Lady Sera. Where did you get this?” he asked politely but inquisitively
“spoils of war, what else?”
“!?” clearly surprised he was silent for a few moments digesting her words. Spoils of war!? then that would only mean she managed to slay one of the Eastern Immortals!
With Zumwalt having a high ranking position in society and being a veteran with dual classes he knew for a fact that the Eastern Immortals were not actually immortals. but their namesake rather pertain to their ridiculously long lives, in which case have been most likely misunderstood or lost in translation throughout the eras.
But for a frail looking Lady in front of him which is not even leaking any hint of mana made Zumwalt question her statement. But then just as he was about to voice his suspicions he suddenly remembered that Lady Sera Hawke have sent multiple armies of golems in the front lines in the past several weeks.
“how many did you kill?”
“Hm? What?”
“the Eastern Immortals, how many did you manage to kill?”
“just one. The others managed to retreat so fast” she said indifferently
“hmm. Well I do apologize for questioning you here but I hope you understand that with the war going on this like this may cause misunderstandings”
“.…. of course Mr. Zumwalt I’ll take note of that next time”
“and before you go, you just need to use magic to open the pouch. I did try to open the pouch earlier to check its contents but the pouch cannot be opened unless the owner dies and their imprint is removed”
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“as for the bracelets and bangles they increase strength,defense and speed. The shield with crossed swords and the feather symbol, they are not that hard to identify”
“is that so… well then if there’s nothing else I will be returning to the tower”
Sera left the office along with her spatial pouch while leaving the branch manager of the mages guild Zumwalt in deep thought.
After Sera left the mages guild as she entered the carriage she was left in a deep thought.
“damn, what a waste this thing cannot be opened until the owner is dead… great, now I have to wait longer but I suppose there is nothing much I can do for now” she said to herself as she shook her head
Although Sera was extremely annoyed at the revelation that the spatial pouch cannot be opened yet she was consoled that the bracelets and bangles can be used immediately.
Every detail every nook and cranny of the artifacts have been scanned and recorded so it was already safe for Sera to wear them, now she would be preoccupied on how to deal with the test subject and finding volunteers to “enhance” their bodies.
Surprisingly the “inscriptions” looks extremely similar to that of the Dwarves Rune carvings with little deviations. This is interesting did the Eastern Immortals took this knowledge in the past war or did they come up on their own inscription method, a parallel thinking perhaps?
Abducting people is of course out of the question since that is a one way ticket to international condemnation even if the nobility never really cared for the lower class they still have a lot to gain by condemning such actions.
However, volunteers on the other hand. No one would mind if volunteers come to me, with a massive war going on right now both soldiers and civilians alike have been heavily affected and as the old sages have said “what better laboratory than the blood soaked battlefield” rings true in this very moment.
“But first let’s try death row criminals for now, oh!! I almost forgot of animal testing or rather monster testing. Oooooohh I’m getting excited” as she looked at the empty chambers with delight
At Narud’s library Sera Hawke is now looking at an almost heaven sent book of golems at the page it says Flesh Golem.
She almost could not contain her excitement, a Flesh Golem. As she reads further the Flesh Golem is quite simplistic in a sense that it only requires an intact corpse.
“Well. Seeing that the test subject is missing some limbs I’m sure that the future test subjects won’t mind donating their limbs for her now would they?” Sera just can’t stop the grin on her face
On the next day Sera wasted no time and pulled some strings and bribed some people to get a hold of heinous criminals to be her test subjects. currently she has 4 additional test subject one of them is female which would be perfect for limb transplant.
She thought “this would be the best time to see if transplants would no longer needed to be compatible to the recipient considering that this is a world of magic and with her being an “Immortal” so to speak”
All of the test subjects are going to be in a chemically induced coma just before surgery to avoid… escaping.
The bodies must be first in their best condition and therefore the test subjects were given privileges such as good food they have never tasted before in exchange that they do extreme exercise to tone their body.
They were also given an option of sexual intercourse in a form of sex toys based back on earth. At first they felt reluctant to use such things but seeing they are prisoners in a dark environment they eventually used them.
All of these activities are designed to burn fats and increase muscle density… hopefully, but not too much that they might awaken hidden abilities and break out from this place. Just enough to make them fit from surgery.
“It would take weeks perhaps even months before the test subject become fit enough for surgeries. therefore in the meantime I will busy my self in other mundane activities, speaking of which I wonder what happened to what I ordered to Bellato?”
On the outer rings of Kaladia City which is mainly for commoners and some low class industries Bellato has been ordered by his Lady Sera Hawke to build an establishment that would serve as a point of interest for travelers and would make the place where people could talk, and with people talking comes rumors and information.
The design of the establishment is for it to be a Tavern for the 1st and 2nd floor. 3rd, 4th, and 5th however would serve as an Inn for people to stay at, with the current situation of the Continental Isle many refugees are going to be arriving hoping for safety and shelter.
The structure is built as a large square around the size of 10 x 10 meters and as the center would be small garden that could be planted with potatoes since it is relatively easy and fast to grow. Back then Lady Sera told him about a story where a whole country was in a war for decades and even after they won they have no food left, the only source of food that they actually have at the time was potatoes.
“Imagine potatoes alone managing to save an entire country” though as Bellato thought why haven’t I heard of this country before?
Regardless. With the war going on a steady stream of refugees who flooded not only the City of Kaladia but also the nearby Kingdoms are currently in danger of food shortages. Luckily however Lady Sera Hawke like a prophet managed to predict the current dilemma and has long ordered mass plantation of potatoes on territories she personally owns several months ago.
Even though it became less aesthetic several scaffolding of potatoes on large pots has already been planted nearby her tower and has already entered the second cycle of plantation with the harvested ones being stored and prepared to feed her employees should the market closes its doors due to lack of food supplies.
“The Eastern Immortals have been known to eat almost nothing, it sure is a mystery how they can fight with very little sustenance. Though I heard it has something to do with their cultivation techniques”
The structure is almost complete 5 days in construction with hundreds of workers taking turns in shifts mostly refugees being put to work most of them just carry stuff around, but this type of labor is not to be under estimated.
The materials they carry are anything but light, the granite shavings from the construction of the Skeleton Granite Golem can no longer be of use so Sera ordered them to be put on the establishment to make sturdy walls. Granite after all is quite sturdy and by recycling the materials the construction time could also be lessened along with the costs.
Back at the tower Sera Hawke has taken a break in her… experiments as most of them would take weeks if not months before being ready. Meanwhile she has taken large order of materials out of the City such as mana stones, control crystals and the most important one food supplies.
Although the Continental Isle is currently under the threat of an invasion it was Kaladia City which is the most in immediate peril due to their huge mineral deposits, and with the allied forces being garrisoned in the City along with the refugees it would only be a matter of time before supplies became scarce.
“Therefore before that even happens I will spend this gold that cannot be eaten and convert them into more usable materials” she determined based on the history of earth… an army fights on its stomach.
Currently sitting on a chair she has removed her exoskeleton that has been supporting her this entire time, the effects were immediate. She felt her arms, legs and her body become heavy each movement became seemingly like a challenge.
Not that her walks around the city did not help to keep her fit, it was just that moving without the assisting exoskeleton her body would often fumble around as if her body collapsing on its own weight.
From time to time her strength would as if suddenly leave her and with the exoskeleton kicking in action to assist her movements, but now movement becomes quite challenging and even somewhat unfamiliar because she has relied so much on her exoskeleton to move ever since she created it.
And now for the test. The recently acquired enchanted artifacts from the Eastern Immortal would be put to the test. Does it work on her?
Even though its almost a snails pace Sera was patient. Slowly but surely wearing first the bracelet, and as soon as she wore the first bracelet on her left arm a sudden burst of strength gushed in her as if filling her body with power but not the kind of power to cast spells but rather the strength to move like a normal person.
Her eyes opened wide and mouth wide open without any second thought she stood up from the chair not caring if she would fall down due to the suddenness of her actions. But the lapse of strength did not come to her, the strength of her legs held strong.
She then continued to wear the other bracelet on her right arm she was met with another wave of strength filling her body. Then without any second thought she tried lifting the chair and to her surprise she barely felt any weight at all it felt as if she was lifting a pillow.
Although Sera knew that this kind of artifacts might be as common as grass in the Eastern Continent to her however it was nothing short of a miracle. She cannot believe that she is lifting a chair as if it were a pillow.
Sera could not take it any longer and burst in tears. A few weeks after entering this world of magic Sera thought that perhaps there is a magical cure for her. But to her disappointment the healers told her that her body is simply too weak to even withstand healing magic.
Her body is completely devoid of any mana and pouring mana in her body is like having a baby drink from a waterfall. In the past non magical humans have been common but in the current era they have thought to become extinct.
After recovering she put on the bangles on both of her legs and she instantly felt light as a feather she felt she can run across the entire city without breaking a sweat. But she managed to control her emotions at last and not get ahead of herself.
“perhaps it is only a limited time effect or something, this requires testing” she said to herself as she went straight ahead down the laboratory and started doing exercises up until she was lifting deadweights.
After an entire days of work she felt her body sore but not fragile. She has probably the biggest smile in her face since…. ever in her life, tired of the spectacular discovery she called it a day and had the best sleep she ever had.
With her body seemingly fixed by the artifacts… she now only needs to see though this war and then… then perhaps make a more permanent solution for her body without relying on borrowed or stolen artifacts.